Year: 2016

All on the Clock

Shit, my quads are sore! Lazy morning so out in the garage around noon.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 2 Sets
    • 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (8#)
    • 1:00 Bottom squat hold
  • Power Snatch
    • 4×45#
    • 4×75#
    • 4×95#
    • 4×115#

Weightlifting

E30S 10:00

  • 2 Power Snatches (135#)

All TnG, including the warm-up sets. One of my calluses from Murph was pulling off strips in the second half of this. Glad it didn’t cause any full on rip. Trimmed it before touching the deadlifts.

Midline

7:00 EMOM

  • 8 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (20#)

Set the clock for 6 sets, but felt good so did one more set.

Conditioning

20:00 EMOM

  • 100m Ski Erg
  • 2 Deadlifts (305#)

Warmed up deadlifts with 6×135#, 6×225#, and 6×275#. I put on my new hand grips for the final warm-up set and the first 10 rounds of the workout. Figured it would help to save my hands as well as break in the grips. They were starting to dig in to my fingers too much so I went hand naked in the second 10 minutes.

Completed both movements each minute, which left about 24 seconds of rest. Didn’t wear a belt and my back held up fine because I got set before pulling each set. The inspiration for this came from SkiWOD. 90 damn degrees! 🔥 HOT! 🔥

On Sabbatical

Flew home from D.C. yesterday. Ten days is a long time for me to be away from home. Didn’t get in much exercise at all due to working a lot and going to a conference. Did go about 60 miles on foot, walking a lot! Didn’t touch a barbell the whole time away, so figured this garage workout would be interesting.

I’m actually on a 3-month sabbatical from work starting today, which is pretty sweet.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Shoulder Press
    • 10×45#
    • 5×65
    • 5×85
  • Back Squat (after finishing press working sets)
    • 10×45#
    • 5×135
    • 5×185

E3M – 5 Sets

  • 5 Shoulder Presses (56-66-76-81-86%)

I went 100-120-135-145-152.5#, which is a PR. Hell, my best 4-rep was 150#. Was scheduled to do 155# on the last set, but scaled it back due to how I was feeling. Probably a good thing I did.

E3M – 5 Sets

  • 5 Back Squat

Same percentages as the presses. I went 210-250-285-305-325#, but did break the final set into 3-2. I knew I wasn’t going to make it and my back was feeling pretty ugly. Took about 30 seconds before getting back under the bar and barely made them. In the video my back doesn’t look at bad as it felt.

Power Cleans

  • 2×45#
  • 2×75
  • 2×95
  • 2×115
  • 2×135
  • 2×155
  • 2×175
  • 2×195
  • 2×205
  • 2×215
  • 2×225
  • 1×235

I was feeling very cautious after the squats. Even though 225# felt solid, after a wide stance catch with 235#, I pre-Clarked the 2nd rep. Will take me a few days to get back in the swing of things I guess.

Hitting the golf course tonight.

Primal Fitness

Finally made it to the CrossFit box right around the corner from the apartment where we are staying. They were the 70th affiliate in the world, so have been around. At 10am every Sunday they do a Hero workout.

primal-fitness-t.jpg

Warm-up

  • High Knees
  • Butt Kicks
  • Side Shuffle
  • 6:00 AMRAP
    • 100m Run
    • 5 Boot Strappers
    • 5 Sit-up to Straddle
    • 5 Pull-up

Their pull-up bars are a full-on fat bar. That would suck to use all the time. I did kipping pull-ups. Finished 3 rounds plus the run.

Mobility

  • Pigeon Stretch
  • Foam Roll Quads
  • Lacross Ball Pecs

Conditioning

“Loredo” – 6 Rounds

  • 24 Air Squats
  • 24 Push-ups
  • 24 Walking Lunges
  • 400m Run

Kept a solid steady pace and finished in 23:12. Had never done this one before. Push-ups were 14-10 every round and everything else unbroken.

D.C. Run

Went out for a run around D.C. in the morning. Ran by the White House, and then all of the big monuments. Really nice in the morning with not many people around. Easy slow run at about an average heart rate of 121 beats/minute. Went 5.15 miles in 56:06 and then walked the rest of the way back to the apartment.

dc-run

dc-run-route

Tired in D.C.

IMG_7503On Tuesday my legs were pretty sore from Monday squats and my traps are still sore from DT. We walked about 9.5 miles around the monuments and stuff. Yesterday I didn’t really do shit. Was pretty tired. Figured I’d better do something this morning though, so came up with the following in my apartment.

10:00 AMRAP

  • 20 Walking Lunges
  • 15 Push-ups
  • 10 V-ups

Did 6 rounds plus 9 push-ups. Everything was unbroken. Didn’t put on any shoes or socks for the entire workout though.

8 Rounds (Tabata)

  • 20s Handstand Hold
  • 10s Rest

Yuck!

8 Rounds (Tabata)

  • 20s Bottom-to-bottom squats
  • 10s Rest

Didn’t try to game it today and went out 14-14 to start. Then the burn started! Went 12-12-11-10 and pushed it to finish 12-15 for an even 100 total, beating my previous best of 93.

To D.C.

Legs are tired and my traps are sore to the touch. Out in the garage early afternoon before heading to the airport.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Back Squats
    • 10×45#
    • 2x5x155#
  • Shoulder Press (after squat work)
    • 10×45#
    • 2x5x75#

Strength

E3M – 5 Sets

  • 5 Back Squat (53-63-73-78-83%)

My numbers were 195-235-275-295-315# today. Little grind but feeling good after the time away from heavy weights. Bar did not feel so good sitting on my sore traps.

E3M – 5 Sets

  • 5 Shoulder Press (53-63-73-78-83%)

Now these got rough for the final two sets. Glad I had the belt on to help protect from over-extending too much. Weights were 95-115-130-140-150#. Seems like that last set was a PR or a PR match, but I don’t have great records of multi-rep maxes.

Glad to have time to get in my strength work for the week so I don’t fall off what we have programmed at Intuition.

Conditioning

  • 30 GHD Sit-ups
  • 500m Ski Erg
  • 30 GHD Sit-ups
  • 500m Ski Erg
  • 30 GHD Sit-ups

Wanted to do 50-1000-50 but wasn’t confident the Ski Erg would stay on for me, so I adjusted. 30 reps on the GHD at a time was plenty! First set of 30 took exactly 1:00 but the other two rounds were much slower. My splits on the erg were 1:52.6 and 1:53.3. Finished everything in 9:03 and got my sit-ups done for the week. Now I’m of to D.C. for 10 days.

DT Struggles

Legs felt tired last night after the running workout. Felt pretty good this morning though.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 2 Sets
    • 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (10#)
    • 10 Reverse Hypers (140#)
  • 3 Sets
    • 5 Ring Rows
    • 5 Clean Thrusters (45#)
    • 30 Double Unders

Conditioning

“DT” – 5 Rounds

  • 12 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 9 Hang Power Cleans (155#)
  • 6 Push Jerks (155#)

Had been over a year and a half since I did this one. Old PR was 10:35. My plan was to try a new strategy of doing all 12 deadlifts and getting 5 cleans before dropping the bar. Then the final 4 cleans and the jerks. Followed it in the first round and it was way too fast. I think I was done at 1:07. I think the second round I did 11, 1+5, 4+6. Round 3 was the same or maybe 11, 1+4, 3, 2+6. I remember being done at about the 5 minute mark. Then the last 2 rounds were slow with too much rest. In round 4 I even dropped the bar with 2 jerks to go. Ugh! Finished at 10:02 for a 33 second PR.

The worst part for me, by far, are the hang cleans. They get so damn heavy and destroy me. Not so good when the final 2 rounds take just as long as the first 3. 😦

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 8 Pendlay Rows (115#)
  • 8 Good Mornings (115#)

Midline

6 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Rocks
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s L-hang (knees up)
  • 20s Rest

Felt the burn. I have to do hangs due to my shoulder; L-sits on the rings don’t feel so good.

These last two weeks have been horrible from a diet perspective. I’ve been getting take-out every meal. Got lazy after Murph and I’ve been busing finishing up a bunch of projects at work before I go on my sabbatical. Had been avoiding the scale, so was scared to step on it this morning, but figured I should before I go on my trip. Was very surprised to see I was still under 204#. Winning! Looking forward to getting back on track when I get home from Washington, D.C. I can tell I’m not feeling as well or recovering as well with all of the junk and who knows what my macros look like.

The Pacer

Warm one yesterday walking 18 holes. Actually felt some fatigue in my legs this morning. Got to the gym early, so jumped in on some bench press with Alex.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 10×135
  • 10×165
  • 10×185

Felt heavy at 135, but seemed better after that.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

  • Jumping jacks
  • Mountain climbers
  • Plank
  • Air squats
  • Bottom Squat Hold

I think we were switching every 15-20 seconds.

Conditioning

24:00 AMRAP – Team of 3

  • Person A: 200m Run (pace setter)
  • Person B: 10 Burpees
  • Person C: 10 Wall Balls (30#, 10′)

Ideally B & C get some rest while waiting for the runner to get back. Teamed up with Bryan and Weston. I started with wall balls, got through 8 rounds plus my wall balls and nearly finished the run with about 20 meters left. My pace on the runs felt really good today, even with the heat and humidity.

Midline Mash-up

2 Rounds

  • 30s Plank
  • 20s Plank Push-ups
  • 10s Plank
  • 30s Side plank
  • 30s Side plank

It was a Tabata but I skipped the rest since we were rotating movements.

Grilled out and played some Spike Ball.

This fucking heat is exhausting. One of my first projects when I got home from a work trip is to replace a couple of in-wall air conditioning units; one doesn’t work anymore and the controls are broke on the other one. They must be at least 15 years old. After feeling lazy all day I got off my ass and headed to the track.

Aerobic Capacity – VO2 Max

13 Rounds

  • 200m Run (slow)
  • 200m Run (mile PR pace – goal of 46s)

I decided to start with a slow 200m to warm-up a bit instead of running a final slow one at the end. The slow pace doesn’t really matter for this workout and continued to get slower and slower. Didn’t get that first pace right (maybe due to the faster “slow” 200 to start), but fell in after that and pushed on the way home.

  1. 1:23.0 – 0:50.6
  2. 1:30.7 – 0:46.8
  3. 1:35.1 – 0:46.1
  4. 1:38.0 – 0:44.5
  5. 1:39.4 – 0:44.0
  6. 1:42.1 – 0:43.8
  7. 1:42.1 – 0:43.6
  8. 1:45.4 – 0:43.7
  9. 1:46.8 – 0:44.5
  10. 1:46.7 – 0:42.8
  11. 1:48.6 – 0:41.8
  12. 1:52.7 – 0:40.0
  13. 1:54.0 – 0:38.1

2016-06-11-vo2-max-workout.png

Deads & Dubs

Yep, my shins are still a little sore today. My shoulders are wrecked from about 200 burpees in the last two days, so didn’t feel up for doing “Helen” at Intuition. Worked out in the garage at lunch time.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 2 Sets
    • 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (8#)
    • 250m Ski Erg
  • 10 Deadlifts (45#)
  • 20 DU
  • 5 Deadlifts (135#)
  • 20 DU
  • 5 Deadlifts (225#)
  • 20 DU

Conditioning

Felt like doing some double unders, so found this from the BTWB Fitness Level workouts in the Heavy category.

3 Rounds

  • 10 Deadlifts (275#)
  • 50 Double Unders

Goal was unbroken deadlifts and there really wasn’t any though of stopping. Those went smooth. Missed at 44 dubs in the first round, unbroken 2nd round, and then heart rate was getting up there, which let to 2 misses in the final round. Finished in 3:31, which was good for a ranking of 95 on BTWB. Definitely one that falls in with my strengths.

Accessory

E3M – 6 Sets

  • 6/6 Landmine Rows (75#)
  • 10 Weighted GHDs (20#)

Conditioning Part 2

  • 500m Ski Erg

Wanted something quick and this fit. Hadn’t really ever done it other than during some intervals for a 1:45. I quickly fell into a 1:34-1:36 / 500m pace and held there. Tried to go faster in the final 200m but couldn’t seem to get that pace to drop. Finished in 1:35.3, which ranked as a 91 on BTWB.

I tend to procrastinate a lot when I workout solo in the garage. I don’t know how people do it all the time. I wouldn’t get anything accomplished if I didn’t go to the gym with other people.

300+ Again

Still fucking sore in my shins. Went to the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • 3 Sets
    • 10 Reverse Hypers (210#)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 30 Jumping Jacks
  • 4 Sets
    • 20s Air Squats
    • 10s Bottom Squat Hold
  • 4 Sets
    • 20s Back Squats (45#)
    • 10s Bottom Squat Hold (45#)
  • 5 Back Squats (135#)
  • 5 Back Squats (185#)

Was worried I’d be dead from the Tabata work, but I went slow and it actually felt good.

Strength

E3M – 5 Sets

  • 5 Back Squat (50-60-70-75-80%)

I went 185-225-265-285-305# based off an estimated 380# max. Haven’t maxed out in 2 years due to back tweaks so it’s all a guess. Been a long time since I’ve had 300 on my back. Felt good to push through that last set. I am liking the knees sleeves.

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

  • 10 T2B

Tried to wear my new grips, but they need some break in time, which will be easier on pull-ups. I slide off the bar too fast on toes-to-bars so took them off after the 2nd set because it was even worse with the thicker grip. I did 6 Sets of 5-5 and 4 Sets of 5-3-2. Surprised I didn’t have to do any singles; 100 reps is a lot!

Conditioning

30-20-10

  • Burpees
  • Ball Slams (30#)

Wore the knee sleeves to see if they would help protect the bruising I get on my left knee and they worked great! Paced the round of 30s too much. Finished in 6:40. Walked 200m to cool down.

Nice night for running other than the wind on some sides of the track

Aerobic Capacity – Lactate Threshold

  • 3 Sets
    • 600m (goal pace – 3:12 or 0:32/100m)
    • 90s Rest
  • 4:00 Rest
  • 3 Sets
    • 200m at 1 mile PR pace (goal – 0:48)
    • 90s Rest
  • 4:00 Rest
  • 3 Sets
    • 500m (goal – 2:30 or 0:30/100m)
    • 90s Rest
  • 4:00 Rest
  • 3 Sets
    • 200m at 400m PR pace (goal – 0:33)
    • 90s Rest

Pace was solid but not difficult for the 600s and 500s. Went too fast on the first three 200s so dialed them back after each one. Rude awakening just how fast I had to go on those final runs. My splits:

  • 600m: 3:10-3:06-3:05
  • 200m: 0:41-0:44-0:46
  • 500m: 2:22-2:21-2:20
  • 200m: 0:35-0:34-0:32

Walked 600m before leaving.